Are you trying to figure out which advertising platform is best for your business? 

In this article, Facebook Ads vs Google Ads, you’re going to discover exactly that.

Here is what we will cover in this article:

Table of Contents:

• Section 1: The Party & The Mall
• Section 2: Direction Of Ad Traffic
• Section 3: Location On The Marketing Funnel
• Section 4: Buyer Intent
• Section 5: Audience Targeting Methods
• Section 6: Advertising Platform Effectiveness
• Section 7: Conclusion on Facebook Ads vs Google Ads

Let’s jump right into Facebook Ads vs Google Ads!

Facebook Ads vs Google Ads: Platform Atmosphere

Each digital platform has a specific way that the audience interacts with the platform. There is a certain atmosphere on each platform that is more conducive to certain types of advertising than others. This is where the true battle of Facebook Ads vs Google Ads begins.

The atmosphere on Google is like that of someone shopping at the mall. And the atmosphere on Facebook is similar to that of someone attending a party. Let’s go a little deeper:

Google Ads: 

Google Ads function like people who are going to the mall. 

When someone wants a new pair of shoes, they walk through the mall and go to the store they intend to make a purchase from. 

Just like the mall, Google acts as the medium that connects buyers and the products and brands they wish to purchase from. 

Our everyday experience speaks to this as well. 

When you want to go out to eat dinner but aren’t sure what you’re in the mood for, you look up “restaurants near me”. You then make a selection, drive to the restaurant and spend your money. 

As you choose your advertising platform, you will want to begin asking yourself if your audience is more likely to engage with you at the “mall” or at a “party”? 

Facebook Ads: 

When people show up on Facebook they behave similarly to someone who shows up at a party. 

They want to have a good time. They plan to go wherever the wind takes them. There is no specific focus on anything except what they perceive to be fun. 

Advertising on Facebook is similar to advertising at a party. Unless your call to action is fast and fun, there is a lower likelihood of people taking action. 

This isn’t to say that Facebook ads aren’t effective.

It all depends on what you are trying to accomplish. If you’re selling anything that enhances the party, you’re likely to do well on Facebook. 

We will get more into exactly working well on Facebook later on. 

So far, we have seen what each side can offer in the battle of Facebook Ads vs Google Ads.

Facebook Ads vs Google Ads: Direction Of Ad Traffic

With any kind of advertising not just in Facebook Ads vs Google Ads, you have to ask whether the advertising is inbound or outbound. 

An inbound ad is an ad that a user sees while they are already looking for you. 

An outbound ad is an advertisement the user finds when they were NOT actively searching for your products or services. 

Google Ads: 

When you put a text ad on the Google search engine, you are using an inbound ad. 

When done correctly, you should be putting an ad in front of an audience who is actively searching for what you have to offer. This increases the likelihood that they will take action once they click on your ad. 

There are of course other ways to use Google ads such as retargeting ads, Youtube Ads and Display ads. 

These types of ads are usually outbound ads, showing to people on websites or platforms (like Youtube) when they are not actively searching for you. 

Facebook Ads: 

In most cases, Facebook ads will be shown to people who are not looking for your products and services. 

This doesn’t mean you can’t target a specific audience who is more likely to engage with your services. It just means that at that moment, they weren’t looking for you. 

Let’s look at where Facebook & Google users fall on a typical marketing funnel. 

Location On The Marketing Funnel

Google Ads: 

Because users clicking on Google Ads are already searching for something they want, they are usually further down the marketing funnel. 

This means that Google Ad clicks are more specialized in generating website sales. 

Facebook Ads: 

Because the people seeing your Facebook ads are not actively searching for your products and services, they will usually be higher up in the marketing funnel. 

This means that Facebook Ads will be more effective for those who are trying to run branding campaigns. 

(If you would like to learn more about lead generation, check out this blog: Lead Generation Marketing – The Beginners Guide to Increase your Profit)

Facebook Ads vs Google Ads: Audience Targeting Methods

Google Ads: 

The primary mode of ad targeting on Google Ads is keyword targeting. Keywords are the words and phrases that users type into the Google search bar. 

To effectively target ads on Facebook you will want to read into how to do effective keyword research.

(If you want to know more about keyword research, you can check out this article over at the Hubspot Blog → Here.)

Recently, Google Ads has introduced some demographic targeting features. While useful, these new targeting features still don’t give the level of comprehensiveness that Facebook Ads offers. 

Facebook Ads: 

The audience targeting features on Facebook Ads are unmatched by any other advertising platform. 

On Facebook, you are able to target your audience by demographics, personal interests, job title, specific behaviors, and more. You can even indicate the type of device they should be on and whether or not they are on wifi when they see your ad. 

Facebook Ads vs Google Ads: Buyer Intent

Buyer intent is how determined a website viewer is to purchase something when they show up on your website. Some forms of advertisements generate website traffic that has higher or lover purchase intent. 

Google Ads: 

Google Ads gives the advertiser the ability to filter through any number of keywords and target words and phrases that indicate high buyer intent.

The keywords below are similar but have very different buyer intent:

1. “Office Desk”
2. “Best Home Office Desk in 2021”

“Office desk” doesn’t give us much information about the reason the user is searching for an office desk. The term is too broad. Maybe they want a picture of an office desk for their newest blog. 

Because of the ambiguity in this term, the likelihood that someone searching this term makes a purchase on your website is lower. This is a low buyer intent keyword.

The keyword “Best Home Office Desk in 2021” has a much more specific intent behind it. This appears to be someone with a home office looking for a high-quality desk. 

This tells us that the probability of generating a purchase from someone searching this keyword is high. This would be considered a high buyer intent keyword. 

This means that Google Ads gives a unique ability to target people who are ready to spend money online.

Facebook Ads:  

While Facebook Ads allows advertisers to target more specific audiences, those audiences are still not looking to make purchases. 

This often means you can generate a higher click-through rate on Facebook Ads. But on the whole, Facebook users will have lower buyer intent when seeing ads. 

While you may get a higher CTR than Google Ads, you may also have a lower CPA (cost per acquisition).

Facebook Ads vs Google Ads: Advertising Platform Effectiveness

Google Ads: 

Google Ads is the best platform at sending users to your website who are ready and motivated to take action. This may mean converting on your website or even purchasing high ticket products and services. 

If Google Ads sounds like the best option for you, you can sign-up for your Free Google Ads Account → HERE

Facebook Ads: 

Facebook Ads excels at branding yourself to new audiences. It’s also excellent at generating low-cost product sales that many would consider impulse purchases. 

If Facebook Ads sounds like the best option for you, you can sign-up for your Free Facebook Ads Account → HERE

Conclusion

At Johnson Jones Group, we don’t think that one of these advertising platforms is better than the other. They both offer their own strengths and weaknesses. Both of these advertising platforms have their place in a completed advertising strategy. We will always be learning more about the differences between Facebook Ads vs Google Ads.

We typically suggest that our small to medium clients begin with Google Ads and target only high intent Google Searchers. 

As your new advertising systems begin to make a profit, we then suggest you begin to expand your advertising into branding campaigns and retargeting campaigns through both Facebook Ads and Google Ads. 

For businesses with larger advertising budgets, it’s usually best to begin with a full advertising strategy. This means implementing advertising that targets both high and low intent audiences simultaneously. 

If you would like to learn more about our advertising and marketing strategies you can book a free consultation with us → Here.

That about wraps it up for this blog on Facebook Ads vs Google Ads. 

Check out our other blogs we’re sure you will love.

What advertising platform do you think you will set up first? 

Let us know in the comments what you think about Facebook Ads vs Google Ads!